Improving Skyrim / Recommended Mods thread (Mostly about Requiem)

[Crispy]

Look, I know the last thing you want to see is another Skyrim thread, but someone's got to put stuff like this up, and being a team player I'm willing to take that bullet.

So I've had some time to fine tune things a little bit and I've got the game running much smoother and a little better looking than it did out of the box. I'm a bit of a purist (virgin and all) so I didn't go crazy with the nude mods and such but hey, who am I to judge?

Anyway here are the tweaks and mods I've applied so far and can recommend:

- One of the nicest improvements I've seen to the performance is the Large Address Aware .exe patcher. What this does is to set a particular flag in the game's main file to allow it to access more than 2GB RAM, which, on a higher-end system that's running on the nicer detail levels, can reduce or eliminate any of the stutters you see when roaming around the countryside. The process is reversible, and should have no effect on savegames, etc. Just to be sure, though, back up your original skyrim.exe file beforehand. This really does have a surprising smoothing effect on the gameplay; highly recommended.

- Along the same lines, tweaking the skyrimprefs.ini file can add some pleasant extras to the PC version of the game, and many of the changes this guy recommends are solid. Things like adding multithreading support to certain physics operations in the game, optimizing clouds' appearance and water appearance, etc., but again you may want to only apply these if you're running a powerful rig. I downloaded his file then copy-pasted only the pertinant lines in it that I liked. I don't recommend just replacing your .ini file with his since there are differences in there unique to your own system. Back up your original skyrimprefs.ini file first, dude.

- Improving the detail of the faces in the game is a simple but welcome change. Look here for a well-done mod for this. The differences are subtle, yet tasteful.

- Improving the looks of the system font the game uses such as in its main menu screen is another welcome change. This simple mod offers several alternates that can make a surprisingly pleasing difference in how the game feels.

- Fix your blood. 'Nuff said.

These are all ones that I've personally applied and am pleased with. I'm not into replacement graphics wrappers for "sharpening" the game and so forth, but many prefer them. Other than what I've already listed, and the game's shadows, I'm happy enough with the game's looks just the way Bethesda intended them.

And regarding the shadows, as far as I can tell to this point, there's no way to fix them. They're hard-coded into the engine, are completely CPU-dependant (as opposed to being GPU-rendered) and are therefore "consolified"; nothing anyone has tried so far gives a mix of better looks without somehow fucking up the game's performance. I've decided to leave mine at Medium for now and try to ignore the shimmering and blockiness. It's too bad, because other than a few ugly textures here and there the shadows are about the only thing that is visually severely lacking in Skyrim. Hopefully a patch or some clever mod will finally address this.

Now let's let this thread grow into something wonderful.

--------

Below are mods/tweaks that other contributors to this thread have recommended or at least mentioned. Please note I do not necessarily recommend or endorse them all; I am merely linking them here in the op for convenience' sake:

I rather liked the effect of the enhanced night skies mod
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=85
-

Enemy radar remover: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=285

-

What about the FXAA injector? It makes the game a little too "happy" for my taste but I'm still messing with tweaking the settings. http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=131

-

Here's a thread about the uGridsToLoad setting with some nice info:
http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/t ... dsizelimit

-

If you are as anoyed as me by the shadows being updated only every 10 seconds or so, try these changes in your skyrim.ini:
fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.0000
fSunUpdateThreshold=0.0

-

Himmelsrand Custom Shader Suite is a much better version of than Timothy Lette's FXAA injector.

-

Ini tweaks for PC comfort (Skyrim.ini):
Change these values to something like "0.0100"
fLoadGameFadeSecs
fFastTravelFadeSecs
fNormalDoorFadeSecs
fNormalDoorFadeWait
fAutoDoorFadeSecs
fMapLoopFadeTimeSeconds
fMapTransitionSpeed
fMinSecondsForLoadFadeIn
fFadeToBlackFadeSeconds
fMapWorldTargetTransitionTime
f1st3rdDelay

-

1) open console
2) type fov 85
3) no more headaches

-

Already out with the inventory fix
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=667

-

I recommend this mod:
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=708 (silly one)

-

Best mod, so far, by far: No NPC Greetings

-

In the Skyrimprefs.ini file, change to the following: (creates nice blurred shadows)
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=20
fInteriorShadowDistance=2200.0000
fShadowDistance=1800.0000
iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048
iShadowFilter=4
fShadowLODStartFade=1800.0000
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bDrawShadows=1
iShadowMapResolution=2048
fShadowBiasScale=0.4400
iShadowMaskQuarter=3

-

Yay, mod that removes Quest Markers AND Enemies from the compass: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=391

-

I also love this mod, I think it makes the world look much much better. (Less blurryness)
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21

-

Been using this for magic:
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=751

-

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=711
Shiny new water textures

-

This new rocks and mountains retex mod works nicely and looks excellent. There are two versions, the HD 4096 and the less-straining 2048 version.

-

SKYRIM ENHANCED SHADERS
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=822

-

Not mod related but it seems NVidia 290.36 beta drivers can enable Ambient Occlusion.
http://www.geforce.com/News/articles/nv ... s-released

-

There's this one for inventory (has been posted before):
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=667 (repeat?)

-

E works like Enter
fOverShoulderCombatAddY=0.0000
fOverShoulderCombatPosZ=0.0000
fOverShoulderCombatPosX=0.0000
fOverShoulderPosZ=0.0000
fOverShoulderPosX=0.0000
fOverShoulderHorseAddY=-12.0000
fOverShoulderHorsePosZ=0.0000
fOverShoulderHorsePosX=0.0000
In skyrim.ini I think.

-

*Bum bum bum*
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1598 (distant LOD retextures)

-

No more location markers on the compass:
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=391 (repeat?)

-

rebinding keys:
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=88

-

Skyrim Compass Tuner

-

Immersive Custom FXAA Settings

-

Don't know if these were mentioned (skyrim.ini)
[MapMenu]
fMapWorldMaxPitch=90.0000
fMapWorldInitialPitch=90.0000
Enables top-down view (default is 75 and 50)
fMapWorldMinHeight=50000.0000
fMapWorldMaxHeight=150000.0000
Need to increase max height because the default 80000 is too low for top-down.
sMapCloudNIF=
Will remove clouds from the map view

-

Horses fixed into not being raging psychotics.
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1522

-

Lo and behold!
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=667 (full interface overhaul mod)

-

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2213 (adult)
It has begun

 

[Ulminati]

I rather liked the effect of the enhanced night skies mod
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=85

 

[Crispy]

One thing I forgot to mention is that if you go the route of altering your UGridstoLoad and other cell-affecting tweaks to your .ini file you're likely going to corrupt your current save file(s) if you revert to the previous UGrids, etc., settings.

There is a workaround to that but beware (see later in this thread).

 

[Eyeball]

Beat me to making this thread by a hair's widt, Mr. Crispy.

Anyway, sorting through the immense piles of shit mods already released on Skyrimnexus about adding in buster swords, giving elves bigger tits and adding manga hairstyles, I found one mod that has immensely increased my enjoyment of the game:

Enemy radar remover: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=285

Not having the newshit ESP radar showing you the location of enemies makes dungeon crawling a hundred times more intensive as you now have to both listen to- and look at the gameworld instead of just keeping your eyes peeled to the top of the screen.

Does anyone know of a mod that removes the faggotass "heal upon leveling up" effect? This was fucking retarded in Diablo 1 and it is fucking retarded now.

Also: Inbeforeuninstall.exe

 

[FeelTheRads]

I tried the uninstall mod! Made my gameplay experience much better!

Now let's let this thread grow into something wonderful.

Fag.

 

[Ulminati]

For Konjad


[edit]

Also, someone modded this in. I lol'd

 

[Bruticis]

What about the FXAA injector? It makes the game a little too "happy" for my taste but I'm still messing with tweaking the settings. http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=131

 

[Crispy]

I think it goes without saying that if you didn't disable the magic compass immediately upon install then you'd better not ever show your face around here again. The line to do so is in skyrimprefs.ini.

 

[Gord]

I didn't see much, if any, differences performance wise by applying the tweaks linked by Crispy, but many people in the comments there claim that it did help them.

Anyway:
Here's a thread about the uGridsToLoad setting with some nice info:
http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.ph...ion-default-57911/page__hl__ipreloadsizelimit

If you are as anoyed as me by the shadows being updated only every 10 seconds or so, try these changes in your skyrim.ini:
fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.0000
fSunUpdateThreshold=0.0

You can play around a bit. I think the first controlls how fast the shadows will move from the old to the new position (0 being instantly) and the second one how long you have to wait for an update (0 being realtime).
They still look shitty, though.

 

[Carrion]

I think it goes without saying that if you didn't disable the magic compass immediately upon install then you'd better not ever show your face around here again. The line to do so is in skyrimprefs.ini.

Does this also disable map markers?

 

[Eyeball]

I think you can disable map markers from the in-game options menu. I play with markers on, because I simply don't have the time to explore every square inch of Fantasy Norway without at least some sort of roadmap.

 

[deuxhero]

- One of the nicest improvements I've seen to the performance is the Large Address Aware .exe patcher. What this does is to set a particular flag in the game's main file to allow it to access more than 2GB RAM, which, on a higher-end system that's running on the nicer detail levels, can reduce or eliminate any of the stutters you see when roaming around the countryside. The process is reversible, and should have no effect on savegames, etc. Just to be sure, though, back up your original skyrim.exe file beforehand. This really does have a surprising smoothing effect on the gameplay; highly recommended.

That's is still the default?


Well, just more proof the "new engine" is bull.

 

[Mangoose]

What about the FXAA injector? It makes the game a little too "happy" for my taste but I'm still messing with tweaking the settings. http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=131

It's great for turning off the bloom.

 

[Black Cat]

There's a Mod that retextures the expert mage robe, changing it's color and adding Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark on the back. Link.

There's another Mod that changes the face textures in such a way the faces now look less angular and sharp, which allows you to actually make a good looking character if you don't mind spending four to five hours on the character creator. Link.

Now my Skyrim experience is much better.



And the OP lies. There are no hair Mods yet.

 

[Nael]

What about the FXAA injector? It makes the game a little too "happy" for my taste but I'm still messing with tweaking the settings. http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=131

It's great for turning off the bloom.

Himmelsrand Custom Shader Suite is a much better version of than Timothy Lette's FXAA injector.

Personally I'm waiting for a mod that makes nighttime and dungeons much, much darker. I'd like to be forced to use torches, magelight, or nightvision (is there even night vision in Skyrim?) instead of wandering through an ancient crypt that's lit up like Broadway.

 

[Luzur]

the nude mod, of course.

 

[Mangoose]

Ini tweaks for PC comfort (Skyrim.ini):

Change these values to something like "0.0100"

fLoadGameFadeSecs
fFastTravelFadeSecs
fNormalDoorFadeSecs
fNormalDoorFadeWait
fAutoDoorFadeSecs
fMapLoopFadeTimeSeconds
fMapTransitionSpeed
fMinSecondsForLoadFadeIn
fFadeToBlackFadeSeconds
fMapWorldTargetTransitionTime
f1st3rdDelay

 

[Luzur]

uhm...where can i find these in Skyrim.ini?

 

[CappenVarra]

- One of the nicest improvements I've seen to the performance is the Large Address Aware .exe patcher. What this does is to set a particular flag in the game's main file to allow it to access more than 2GB RAM, which, on a higher-end system that's running on the nicer detail levels, can reduce or eliminate any of the stutters you see when roaming around the countryside. The process is reversible, and should have no effect on savegames, etc. Just to be sure, though, back up your original skyrim.exe file beforehand. This really does have a surprising smoothing effect on the gameplay; highly recommended.

That's is still the default?


Well, just more proof the "new engine" is bull.

If you'll excuse a non-player stumbling in, that quoted paragraph made me laugh at loud for completely non-game-related reasons... It's so retarded I feel the urge to write something lulzy as well, something like: Bethesda really cannot into programming :facepalm:.

 

[JrK]

I use
-dual wield animation fix (makes it less derpy)
-FXAA injector with tweaked settings (done myself)*
-interface hardcoded key tweaks**
-Large adress aware tweak
-assorted skyrim.ini and skyrimprefs.ini tweaks***
-mod to make magicka and stamina regen at normal rate even when in combat (slight difference but has a slight but noticeable effect on magic play)
-no kill moves mod (it exacerbates the balance problems)
-no stealth meter icon (always found this stupid, I want visibility meter, not a wallhack!)

*I lowered saturation and disabled vignetting, post sharpening and bloom
**changed this myself so that I can designate favourites with the favourites button
***Most notably increasing FOV (doesn't change until you go into the 'star' menu with 'items' 'magic' 'char' 'map', disabling Vsync, improving gravity efffects on arrows and some stuff about shadows which are horribly optimized.

 

[Mangoose]

uhm...where can i find these in Skyrim.ini?

Hmm you might have to populate the ini via console command "saveini"

Oh yeah also bVATSDisable=1 to get rid of the 3rd person kill animations.

 

[Luzur]

can someone explain to me where i can find these lines to change in Skyrim.ini?

i looked (and used search function) but such lines as you post here are not to be found in my ini file.

EDIT:

Hmm you might have to populate the ini via console command "saveini"

oh i see.

 

[Crispy]

Ini tweaks for PC comfort (Skyrim.ini):

Change these values to something like "0.0100"

fLoadGameFadeSecs
fFastTravelFadeSecs
fNormalDoorFadeSecs
fNormalDoorFadeWait
fAutoDoorFadeSecs
fMapLoopFadeTimeSeconds
fMapTransitionSpeed
fMinSecondsForLoadFadeIn
fFadeToBlackFadeSeconds
fMapWorldTargetTransitionTime
f1st3rdDelay

These are interesting, Mangoose. I assume by PC comfort you mean these introduce less delay performing the functions they're named after? You get a 'snappier' response to opening the map, for example?

Luzur, any lines not already present in skyrim.ini can simply be pasted into place. We need to know which section, though, I believe, although that may not matter.

 

[SCO]

Seems like the programmers at beth still have their heads on straight, while the designers and quest writers derp forever in yiff.

 

[Gwendo]

Anyway:
Here's a thread about the uGridsToLoad setting with some nice info:
http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.ph...ion-default-57911/page__hl__ipreloadsizelimit

http://deadendthrills.com/2011/11/madne ... he-method/